Wayland, MA, USA, November 20, 2002 - The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced that Phase 1 of its Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative (CIPI-1) recently began with a successful kick-off meeting held in Reston, Virginia. CIPI aims to test the application of interoperable technology to meet critical infrastructure protection needs for coordination of geospatial data and services between national, state, provincial, and other local governments, commercial, and non-government organizations. One of the overarching goals is the development of a collaborative, distributed network of critical infrastructure information sources and services based on open standards and specifications.
CIPI-1 represents the first of a series of pilot projects to help advance interoperability for critical infrastructure protection and other vital service needs. CIPI is also an opportunity for vendors, users, and other interested parties to mutually shape critically needed services, interfaces and protocols in the context of a hands-on engineering experience.
CIPI-1 will focus on the border area between Detroit, Michigan, USA and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. This unique geography will allow participants to explore both vertical data sharing between national to local government agencies, and horizontal data sharing between collaborating jurisdictions in the region. CIPI-1 will emphasize the sharing of transportation data, and will examine response opportunities to hypothetical events in the border area between Canada and the United States.
The area of Detroit/Windsor was selected for the pilot as a result of interest expressed by organizations who responded to OGC's Call For Communities (see http://ip.opengeospatial.org/cfc ), an ongoing effort that encourages public and private organizations at all levels to register their interest in participating in OGC initiatives. "We are thankful for the contributions of data, time and energy from the City of Windsor, the Province of Ontario, and the Centre for Topographic Information Sherbrooke (CTIS). We also appreciate the support of Wayne State University, City of Detroit Police Department, Wayne County, and Michigan Center for Geographic Information. Their leadership and involvement in CIPI-1, along with sponsors and participants, will be crucial to the success of this initiative," stated Terry Idol, Director of CIPI-1 Initiative for the OGC. CIPI-1 will deliver servers built on OpenGIS® specifications to GeoConnections and the US Geological Survey (USGS). Additional interoperable capability is envisioned for implementation within organizations in the Detroit/Windsor region. CIPI-1will also explore data security and alert messaging interoperability issues. Additional capability is planned for a second phase of CIPI-1.
The sponsors of this initiative include GeoConnections, the US Geological Survey, and General Dynamics. Participants include ClassCo Inc. (US), Compusult Ltd. (Canada), CubeWerx (Canada), ESRI (US), Galdos Systems (Canada), Ionic Enterprise (US), PCI Geomatics (Canada), SAIC (US), Syncline (US) and York University (Canada). In addition, the Spatial Technologies Industry Association (STIA) is providing public policy and intergovernmental affairs assistance to support CIPI-1.
Organizations interested in learning more about Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative should contact Mr. Jeff Harrison, Executive Director of OGC Interoperability Programs, (703) 491-9543, jharrison [at] opengeospatial [dot] org .
OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 230 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, and empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .
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Wayland, MA, USA, November 7, 2002 - The Geospatial One-Stop (GOS) initiative recently issued a Call for Additional Requirements for the Geospatial One-Stop Portal (see http://www.geo-one-stop.gov/cfar/ ). The GOS Portal will rely in part on interoperability specifications such as those published by the Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC).
Led by the Department of the Interior, Geospatial One-Stop is one of 24 US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) E-Government initiatives to improve effectiveness, efficiency, and customer service throughout all layers of government. GOS builds upon National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) objectives to enhance interoperability among geographic components of government activities.
Geospatial One-Stop will provide a Portal for discovery of and access to certain basic themes of geospatial data, known as Framework data. This Portal will be a general user interface to distributed geospatial data and services available from all levels of government. Also, applications such as desktop GIS software, Decision Support Systems, and other services will be able to utilize the Geospatial One-Stop Portal through open software interfaces.
"The Portal is all about access," said NASA's Myra Bambacus, Acting Executive Director of Geospatial One-Stop. "It will enable all levels of government to get the information they need for planning, disaster response, homeland security, and other activities."
Respondents to the Call for Additional Requirements will help the Geospatial One-Stop Portal Team of state, local, and federal representatives develop the functional requirements of the Portal. These requirements will inform the draft architecture of the Portal, which will then be refined and implemented during an interoperability initiative to be executed by OGC.
A description of existing requirements and instructions for submitting additional requirements or comments are available at http://www.geo-one-stop.gov/cfar/ . Responses received by November 22, 2002 will receive full consideration for version 1 of the Portal. Questions should be addressed to the GOS Portal Manager, Dr. Jeff de La Beaujardiere, at 301-286-1569 or portal-cfar-comments [at] sunrise [dot] gsfc [dot] nasa [dot] gov .
OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 230 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, and empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .
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Wayland, MA, USA, October 30, 2002 - Members of the Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) have publicly demonstrated a set of prototype interfaces and schemas that support Location-Based Services (LBS) interoperability. The goal is to enable telecommunications companies to efficiently implement interoperable LBS applications that can seamlessly access multiple content repositories and service frameworks and that work across the world's many different wireless networks and devices. Location-Based Services employ real-time positioning technologies and networked resources to enable a wide variety of applications. These include emergency response (E-911, for example), personal navigator, traffic information service, proximity service, location recall, mobile field service, travel directions, restaurant finder, corporate asset locator, concierge, routing, vector map portrayal and interaction, friend finder, and geography voice-graphics.
The demonstration was held at the October 24-25 "ETS1: Location-Based Services" conference in Reston, Virginia USA. The ETS (Emerging Technology Summit) conferences are jointly supported by OGC and the Geospatial Information Technologies Association (GITA). The demonstration marked successful completion of phase 1 of the OGC Open Location Services (OpenLS(TM)) Testbed Initiative. Specifications based on the prototype interfaces and schemas will be reviewed in the OGC Specification Program, to be refined and then approved for global public release as Adopted OpenGIS(R) Implementation Specifications.
The tremendous social value and commercial opportunity offered by LBS will depend on communication of location (and time), route, types of service, etc. across diverse technology platforms, application domains, classes of products, carrier networks and national regions. Users will expect, for example, continuity of location services when a cell phone "roams" from one carrier's network to another's. The OpenLS-1 team of experts is drafting from their prototypes a set of specifications for publicly available shared interfaces and schemas which will enable such interoperability. The specifications will also comprise a "cookbook" for rapid development of LBS offerings. The demo showed:
-- Integration with mobile terminals, wireless platforms, and IP platforms
-- Directory (sometimes called "yellow pages") search and display with spatial parameters in requests and responses
-- Route determination and display based on two or more points entered as place names, street addresses, or longitude/latitude coordinates
-- Finding coordinates from street addresses (geocoding) and street addresses from coordinates (reverse geocoding)
-- Displaying maps on devices with different display characteristics
-- User interaction with map features through mobile client and remote server
-- Voice-activated direction service and friend finder
OpenLS-1 Testbed Sponsors included Hutchison 3G (UK), Oracle, Webraska (France), ESRI (US), Sun Microsystems (US) and In-Q-Tel (US). Sponsors determine technology requirements and constraints for OGC testbeds.
OpenLS-1 Testbed Participants included: Cquay (Canada), Galdos (Canada), Hitachi (Japan), NTT Data (Japan), BigTribe (US), Intergraph's IntelliWhere division (Australia), ESRI, University of Illinois (US), LocatioNet (US), MapInfo (US), SignalSoft (US), Sun Microsystems, Syncline (US), Navigation Technologies (US), MobileGIS (Ireland), Telcontar (US), Tele Atlas (Netherlands), SICAD Geomatics (Germany), Vodafone (UK), Webraska, IONIC (Belgium) and Laser-Scan (UK).
OGC ( www.opengeospatial.org ) is an international industry consortium of more than 230 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications.
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Wayland, MA, USA, October 28, 2002 - The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) today announced a Call for Sponsors for a Feasibility Study that will support the next phase of the OGC Web Services (OWS) Initiative. The OWS Phase 2 (OWS-2) Feasibility Study will seek community input and technology concepts to support efforts directed at understanding emerging technology areas for the next-generation of web based interoperable geoprocessing and location services. This effort will support planning for subsequent OGC Testbed activities to develop and extend existing OpenGIS® Specifications, enabling interoperable geoprocessing and location services to better support government, business, education, research, and consumer needs.
OGC is actively seeking sponsoring organizations to help shape the common vision and technology scope for OWS-2. Future phases of OWS will extend engineering specifications developed during the current OWS Initiative, scheduled for completion in January 2003. Past OWS initiatives significantly advanced interoperability and enhanced access, integration, maintenance and update capabilities for distributed geoprocessing services and sensors. This increased capacity is already enabling the implementation of spatial data infrastructures that support hazard mapping, infrastructure protection, command and control, disaster response, geospatial intelligence, sustainable development and other application areas with new interoperable capabilities.
OWS-2 Feasibility Study is an important step in planning for the next OGC Web Services Testbed. Through Sponsorship of OWS-2 Feasibility Study, organizations will be invited to establish the specific requirements that are input into an upcoming Request for Technology, thereby establishing the high-level goals and requirements of the OWS-2 Testbed, and significantly affecting the interoperable technology development process. Based on Sponsor requirements, the next phase of OGC Web Services will emphasize extensions to the current baseline to increase usability, utility and commercial viability of emerging and existing OpenGIS® Specifications. Potential focus areas may include developing and testing open engineering specifications to enable service chaining, decision support, federated geoprocessing services, sensor webs, geospatial information interoperability, symbology and presentation, e-commerce architectures for geoprocessing, and location services.
The OWS-2 Feasibility Study is part of OGC's Interoperability Program, a global, collaborative, hands-on engineering and testing program that rapidly delivers proven candidate specifications into OGC's Specification Program, where they are formalized for public release. In OGC's Interoperability Initiatives, international teams of technology providers work together to solve specific geoprocessing interoperability problems posed by the Initiative's Sponsors. OpenGIS® specifications allow technology developers to offer products that "plug and play" with other offerings in the marketplace. For more information on becoming a Sponsor of the OWS-2 Feasibility Study, please contact Mr. Jeff Harrison, OGC Executive Director, Interoperability Program, at (703) 628-8655, or at jharrison [at] opengeospatial [dot] org .
OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 230 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .
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Wayland, MA, USA, October 4, 2002 - The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announces that a Request for Quotations (RFQ)/Call for Participation (CFP) in the OGC Geospatial One-Stop Transportation Pilot (GOS-TP) Initiative and Demonstration. The document is available at http://ip.opengeospatial.org/gos-tp/ . This initiative is part of a larger Geospatial One-Stop project currently underway by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). More information about Geospatial One-Stop is available at http://www.fgdc.gov/geo-one-stop/ . OGC is partnering with the US Department of Transportation and FGDC to create a tool and associated processes to deploy data content models for practical application by cooperating communities, specifically focusing on Road Transportation data. OGC will test and demonstrate the use of the Road Transportation Data Content Standard with technologies that employ OpenGIS® Specifications such as Web Feature Service and Geography Markup Language (GML).
The initiative will build four active server nodes hosting transportation data (State of California, State of Oregon, Jackson County Oregon, and Siskiyou County California), and an FGDC Portal Gateway prototype. A goal of this initiative is that users will be able view data and maps available from these and perhaps other nodes, via the prototypical Portal Gateway. For each of these server nodes, standards-based commercial-of-the-shelf (SCOTS) products that implement the required capabilities will be identified, installed, and tested. An important aspect of this development will explore data model translation. In a collaborating environment such as the GOS-TP, the information being offered for exchange will be a stored using a number of different data models. Full interoperability will only be possible when there is a means to translate information from one data model to another. In the initiative, a Web Feature Service based translation service will be developed to perform schema translations between transportation data stored using one data model (local to the server node being addressed) and the geospatial framework data content data model.
A second facet of the GOS-TP initiative will focus on the generation of GML application schemas needed for the Geospatial One-Stop Data Content models. Part of the Geospatial One-Stop process is to develop standards and models for the geospatial framework data content. These models are being developed in the Unified Modeling Language (UML). To make data standard, and the data, more widely useable, there is a requirement for a tool that generates a Geography Markup Language Application Schema from the UML automatically. This will enable more effective development and maintenance of the models and will also enable the easy generation of the appropriate exchange schemas.
Responses the RFQ/CFP are due November 8, 2002. For more information contact Kurt Buehler ( kbuehler [at] opengeospatial [dot] org ).
OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 230 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, and empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .
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Wayland, MA, USA, October 4, 2002 - The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced today that OGC President, David Schell this week received a CIO Magazine 20/20 Vision award as a "visionary creator/seller of technology." Mr. Schell will participate with other 20/20 Vision award winners on a panel moderated by Esther Dyson at CIO Magazine's Perspectives Conference, Oct. 6 - 8 at the Loews Coronado Bay Resort, San Diego, CA. See http://www.cio.com/archive/100102/honoree_dev.html
"The CIO 20/20 Vision Awards mark the first award program we've done to honor individuals instead of organizations," says Abbie Lundberg, CIO magazine's editor-in-chief. "We want to recognize the executives responsible for major organization achievements. The honorees are leaders and pioneers who have the vision and drive to make a difference."
In 1994, Schell and a group of professionals dedicated to standards and interoperability founded the Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC), a 501 (c)6 not-for-profit membership organization. Bringing together an intensely competitive group of vendors and a diverse group of users, his vision has resulted in a consortium of over 220 members worldwide who have built a remarkable open framework that supports communication involving all types of spatial and temporal information and spatial applications and services. OGC's OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperability among systems and services for measuring and referencing the Earth and also among geo-processing systems and services such as geographic information systems (GIS), spatially enabled databases, automated mapping and facilities management (AM/FM), digital cartography, navigation, Earth imaging (remote sensing), and Location Based Services (online services for mobile, position-aware networked devices). Due to recent work in OGC, anyone building Web-based information systems can now incorporate standards-based commercial off-the-shelf (or non-commercial) spatial data, services, and components that provide a wide variety of spatial capabilities. This opens the door to integration of spatial capabilities into information systems of all kinds.
Earlier this year, the leadership of the Geospatial Information & Technology Association (GITA) nominated Mr. Schell for the CIO 20/20 award. Mr. Bob Samborski, Executive Director of GITA, noted that, "OGC enables information sharing among diverse producers and users of 'where' information by specifying the interfaces that enable communication among diverse spatial software components. David's CIO 20/20 Award is a fitting tribute to his vision and hard work, without which we wouldn't have these specifications."
OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 230 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .
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Wayland, MA, September 27, 2002 - The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced today that three new OpenGIS® Specifications were approved at the recent meeting in Noordwijk, The Netherlands. The Web Feature Service Interface Specification (WFS), the Filter Encoding Implementation Specification and the Style Layer Descriptor (SLD) Implementation Specification are significant contributions to the Spatial Web - moving the global community closer to the OGC vision of ubiquitous geospatial integration on the Web, regardless of hardware platform, device or software. The specifications are freely available at www.opengeospatial.org/techno/implementation.htm .
Each specification solves significant interoperability issues for mapping data and service integration on the Web. Vendor products that implement the Web Feature Service Specification can support distributed, Web-based geospatial feature data operations critical to government, commercial, academic and other applications. In particular, software that implements WFS can access, query, create, update or delete data from servers that adhere to the specification, no matter the vendor, data storage format or location. For example, for a given situation there are no roadblocks to updating, sharing and using mapping information at the most detailed level. The Filter Encoding Specification enables any client to specify a query for information from WFS enabled server. The Style Layer Descriptor Implementation Specification provides the ability to describe rules for symbolizing maps.
The Web Feature Service Implementation Specification describes feature database operations (e.g., points, lines, and polygons) making it possible for client and server applications to interoperate across the web. The request is typically generated on the client and posted to a WFS server. The WFS server reads and executes the request, returning the result in Geography Markup Language (GML) encoding. The GML document, used in conjunction with an XML Schema, can then be parsed by any client application for further use.
The Filter Encoding Implementation Specification adds the capability to constrain feature requests to a WFS enabled server by using a filter expression within a request. A filter expression described in XML, can for example, limit selection to just those features that lie within a geographic area, or include a spatial operation (trees must be within 20 feet of an electric line) with a property constraint (must be a maple tree). The neutral XML filter encoding allows easy parsing and validation by a WFS server before being transformed into the targeted language of a required data store.
The Style Layer Descriptor Implementation Specification defines the encoding for symbology, styling and rules for map display. SLD, expressed in an XML document, can be used or referenced by a Web mapping client application when formulating a map request to any SLD enabled map server. Using this approach, Web maps can be generated dynamically using a number of independent map services accessing a number of remote data sources. Performance and efficiency is achieved since only the resulting maps need to be transported to the client as opposed to the data itself.
Edric Keighan President and CEO of CubeWerx Inc., a submitter and editor of the three specifications, commented, "It is important to recognize that these achievements would not have been possible without the global collaboration of OGC Interoperability Program Sponsors, Interoperability Program Team members, and many, many Participants. The OGC WFS, SLD and Filter Encoding represent an important addition to the emerging suite of OGC Web Services and will support interoperable implementations around the world. CubeWerx is pleased with the outcome of the OGC consensus process and would like to thank all OGC members for their contributions."
OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 220 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, and empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .
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Request for Quotations Available Sept. 27
Wayland, MA, USA, September 24, 2002 - The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced today the U.S. Census Bureau will sponsor the second phase of the Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative, CIPI-2. Census will use the OGC's rapid-prototyping process to develop two prototype systems: an online system to update governmental unit boundary information for existing incorporated places, and an OGC conformant server solution for Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing (TIGER®) data. The online editing system will be the first step to moving a currently manual system on the Web. The standards based server will allow Census' data to be used in conjunction with other local, state, and federal data and mapping services, including GeoSpatial One-Stop, a federal e-government initiative, the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) as a resource for infrastructure protection, and other efforts. The Request for Quotations (RFQ) for this initiative will be available on Friday, September 27 at: http://www.opengeospatial.org/info/techno/interoprequests.htm
The prototype editing system, called "WebBAS," will allow Web-based update of geospatial features by state, county, local, municipal and/or tribal governments as a partial replacement for the current paper-based Boundary and Annexation Survey (BAS). The BAS is currently a paper-based survey that consists of map sheets, 12 forms, 8 letters, 2 postcards, and 12 inserts. The Geography Division of the U.S. Census Bureau, as part of the MAF/TIGER® enhancements program, aims to improve the spatial coordinate accuracy of TIGER®, expand the number of participants in the BAS, improve the response rate, reduce cost, and make additional update options available to local governments.
The pilot implementation of WebBAS will be based on OpenGIS® interface specifications, including Web Map Server, Styled Descriptor Layer, Web Feature Server and Geography Markup Language. The system will provide tools for the collection and approval / signing of detailed boundary change information, address break information, and base map feature insertion and update. Ideally, there will be no need for printing or mailing any paper maps or forms, although initial usernames and passwords may be provided by U.S. mail.
WebTIGER aims to develop a standards-based Web server to serve TIGER® data and map images over the Web. The Census has used the TIGER/Line® format for a decade to make its data available to the public. Typically, GIS software or custom programs are used to make maps after the raw TIGER/Line® data has been translated into a proprietary format. The TIGER/Line® format, however, changes from time to time, so the translator software must be updated accordingly. The online TIGER Mapping service, developed as a stand-alone prototype system in the last decade, serves TIGER data from 1998.
To promote vendor-neutral dissemination of TIGER® data and to reduce the software maintenance burdens imposed by periodic file format changes, the U.S. Census Bureau is exploring replacing TIGER/Line® files with a non-proprietary, standards-based, extensible and flexible encoding format, GML. The Bureau is also exploring a prototype viewer client as a successor to the TIGER Mapping Service, and to encourage public adoption of TIGER/GML® as an open, standards based encoding for TIGER® data.
The OGC Census TIGER/GML® pilot is being conducted as part of CIPI to maximize collaboration and sharing of development activities, technology enhancements, OGC Critical Infrastructure Collaboration Environment (CICE) testing, and web services delivery. The schedule for the initiative calls for responses to the RFQ to be submitted by COB Thursday October 17, 2002, participants to be selected by Thursday October 31, 2002, project kickoff on Tuesday November 12, 2002, and public demonstrations by the end of March 2003.
Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative is part of OGC's Interoperability Program, a global, collaborative, hands-on engineering and testing program that rapidly delivers proven candidate specifications into OGC's Specification Program, where they are formalized for public release. In OGC's Interoperability Initiatives, international teams of technology providers work together to solve specific geoprocessing interoperability problems posed by the Initiative's sponsoring organizations. Questions about the Interoperability Program should be addressed to Mr. Jeff Harrison, Executive Director, jharrison [at] opengeospatial [dot] org , (703) 491-9543.
OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 220 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available interface specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web, wireless and location-based services, and mainstream IT. The specifications empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .
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Wayland, MA, September 19, 2002 - The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) announced today that Autodesk, Inc. (Nasdaq: ADSK) has become the first Principal Plus level OGC member. Autodesk's decision to participate at this new level underscores its commitment to geospatial interoperability, the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) industry, and the OGC. Autodesk has been an OGC member since 1994 and has been involved in several of its programs, including the recent OGC Web Services Initiative.
Principal Plus members take a more active role in shaping the direction of the Consortium's technology specification activities and in encouraging the use and acceptance of OpenGIS® specifications worldwide. In addition to the responsibilities of Principal Members, Principal Plus members dedicate resources directly to OGC programs. Autodesk has committed resources in support of OGC's Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative (CIPI), a new approach to helping organizations publish, discover, access, exchange, and maintain vital geospatial information and online geoprocessing services required to support local and national safety.
"Autodesk GIS and the OpenGIS Consortium share the same vision about the industry: delivering spatial information anytime, anywhere independently of the platform," said Pierre Lemire, CTO of Autodesk's GIS Solutions Division. "We are looking forward to the benefits of becoming the first OGC Principal Plus member and playing a leading role in the Critical Infrastructure and Protection Initiative to support security."
David Schell, OGC president comments, "We are very pleased that Autodesk is increasing its leadership role in OGC programs. The company's decision to dedicate resources to OGC's CIPI will help accelerate our progress toward greater geospatial interoperability in support of local, national and international cooperation concerning critical infrastructure protection issues."
For more information on the new Principal Plus OGC membership, please visit http://www.opengeospatial.org/about/mLevels.htm . For more information on CIPI please visit http://www.opengeospatial.org/pressrm/summaries/20020101.TS.CIPI.htm .
Founded in 1982, Autodesk, Inc., is the world's leading design software and digital content company. Autodesk offers solutions for professionals in building design, geographic information systems, manufacturing, digital media, and wireless data services. By delivering progressive products and services, Autodesk helps customers create, manage, use and maximize the value of their digital data throughout the lifecycle of their projects. For more information about the company, see www.autodesk.com .
OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 230 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, and empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .
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Wayland, MA, September 9, 2002 - The Open GIS Consortium, Inc. (OGC) invites expressions of interest from industry organizations to participate in a Model Advisory Team (MAT) regarding a nationwide Transportation Framework Data Content Standard, specifically the Public Transit component. This Transit MAT will develop data content standards and an associated Abstract Feature Model in Unified Modeling Language (UML), which will support the exchange of mapping information about public transit features between cooperating organizations and communities. This task is part of a larger effort to develop data content standards and other capabilities for the Geospatial One-Stop project currently underway by the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC). Content standards and models resulting from the MAT process will be submitted to American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for adoption.
OGC is seeking expression of industry interest to participate in the Transit MAT to provide modeling support. OGC will make small "scholarship" funds available to compensate some of the interested organizations. Expressions of interest should be delivered by email to kbuehler [at] opengeospatial [dot] org by September 27, 2002, and must include 1) reasons for interest, 2) area of expertise (roads/transportation domain knowledge, UML modeling knowledge, or GML/XML Schema knowledge), and 3) whether scholarship funds are sought. Organizations selected for this effort will be invited to participate in MAT sessions to be held in October (applicants will be notified when date is finalized) in the Washington DC area. The remainder of the MAT activity will be conducted via email and telephone conferences.
OGC is an international industry consortium of more than 230 companies, government agencies and universities participating in a consensus process to develop publicly available geoprocessing specifications. OpenGIS® Specifications support interoperable solutions that "geo-enable" the Web and mainstream IT, and empower technology developers to make complex spatial information and services accessible and useful with all kinds of applications. Visit the OGC website at www.opengeospatial.org .
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